City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to today's City Council meeting, Monday, June 22nd, 2026. I now call this meeting to order. Roll call.

District 1, Council Member Casey.

Present.

District 2, Council Member Vieira. Here. District 3, Council Member Otero. Here. District 4, Vice Mayor Martinez.

Present.

Mayor Lopez.

Here. Everyone, please stand for the invocation by Jerry Swain, New Vision Christian Center, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Veteran John Warren. Welcome, sir.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this time. We thank you for our city. Lord, we thank you for those that you have put in control and those that you put in office, Lord. Lord, we ask you to lead and guide their thoughts today, their decisions. Lord, let your will be done in what is done in this room tonight, that it'll be to your glory and to this city's betterment. In Jesus' wonderful name, amen. Mr. Warren.

Good evening, Council, ladies and gentlemen.

Just before we say the pledge, I want to remind all the adults, male adults in the room, if you are military or a veteran, active, you can keep your cover on, your hat on, and give a hand salute, as you're aware of. And those of you that are not veterans or military are please asked to remove your cover and place it over your heart. You will see that American Legion members will remove their cover and place it over their heart. And if you're a VFW member, generally we leave our hats on, our covers on, And we give a hand salute. Let us begin. We'll place our hands over our hearts and pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Mr. Warren. We have no presentations today, so we'll begin and open up Citizens Communications. While the City Council welcomes and encourages participation in City Council meetings, adopted rules allows no more than five minutes, Resolution 2007-106, for expression of non-agenda items. Matters under the jurisdiction of the City Council and not on the posted agenda may be addressed by the general public. However, California law prohibits the City Council from taking any action on any matters which is not posted on the agenda unless it is determined to be an emergency by the City Council. Citizens are entitled to address City Council on any agenda item subject to the five-minute provision. Anyone wishing to address City Council must adhere to the rules of decorum. The rules of decorum are posted outside the chamber doors. And we will begin if we have any representatives here today.

Good evening. My name is Abby Pendleton. I'm here on behalf of Assemblymember Juan Alaniz. Just a couple updates on some of our legislation that passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee earlier this month. AB 767, this would prohibit a sexually violent predator from being released within a quarter mile of a child daycare facility or home that has filed for a private school affidavit. Right now, this applies to public schools, but not private schools. So that would change the law there. And then AB 2004, this would extend statute for peace officer status to more officers at the county jail level, thereby freeing up additional resources for county law enforcement operations. and then as always if any resident of series needs assistance with a state agency like the employment development department dmv california doj i am available and our office is available to assist thank you thank you very much we'll begin with two yellow cards first person we have is david

Welcome. Good evening, and thank you for this opportunity to express myself. I currently live at 2809 Hummingbird, which is right across the street from the parking lot for Smyrna Park. We're starting to encounter excessive parking, excessive parking in red zones, and people blocking the access road to Smyrna Park and blocking the bus lane for Carol Fowler School. I have forwarded to Jessica several pictures of these violations. I feel it's an affront to the safety of the kids that play there, and it's just creating a lot of headaches for people that live in the bird streets. I have several of my neighbors that have signed a letter of not happiness, I guess you could call it. And it's getting kind of excessive. What we'd like to see is have CYB possibly open up the gate on Garrison so people can park at Carroll Fowler School rather than park in the residences. I would appreciate anything the council could do to help us to alleviate this situation. It gets pretty terrible on Saturdays and Sundays when you, if you leave your house to go to the store and you come home and people have taken your parking lot, parking spot, and they block your driveway. I have several pictures that I shared with Jessica. I would appreciate anything the council could do this evening. And I thank you for your time.

David, do you have that letter with you today or was that emailed to Jessica? I'm sorry. That letter that you said from, that you had from the residents, do you have that with you today or was it emailed? I'm sorry. I'm the one right behind you that from the residents, a letter. If you could please provide that to our staff and we will document it for the record. Thank you. I have a hearing impediment. No worries. No worries at all. The next yellow card that we have is, I believe it says, is this Dora? Or is it Doug? It looks like an A. I'm so sorry. My apologies.

Thank you for taking the time to hear us about what we're talking about. I live on Rose Avenue. I've been a resident there for 24 years. And this time of year, baseball season is outrageous. And then people use the park for when the weather is good for barbecues and such. Parking, if anybody comes to visit, they cannot park anywhere on our street or even on our side street. I live on the corner of Hummingbird and Rose. And just the traffic is outrageous. I have people blocking my driveway, causing problems with me when I ask them not to park in front of my driveway. It was my understanding that years ago, and I don't remember how long ago it was, that there was talk about making that grass area right there adjacent to the entry of Smyrna Park, they were to make that into a parking area. I've never heard any more about that, but that would be a great situation to our problem, which alleviates so much parking on the street. It's not only the parking, it's the speeding of the people that come and go down that street all the time. I've asked years and years ago about parking, putting speed bumps on that road and basically got shut down on that saying the residents wouldn't want that. Well, we haven't asked the residents. Speeding that goes up and down is estimated over well, 60 miles an hour at times. And years and years ago, we can remember there was a young lady that got killed on the other side of Smyrna Park on her way to school one day because somebody speeding down that road and run a stop sign. I'd just like to see something happen. I know on Garrison, and I don't know how this is allowed, but there is permit parking. I don't know how that's allowed, and if that has to be something we have to have along our street in front of our residents as well. I noticed people put cones out to stop people from parking in front of their houses. Now, I was told by an officer years ago, I don't know how they get away with it, but I wouldn't recommend parking in front of their house because you don't know what's going to happen to your vehicle. Well, we're not vengeful, but we just want to see something done where we can accommodate the people to come to visit us and have safety on that street. Thank you.

Thank you, Doug. Any other residents that would like to speak during general comment? Please just step up to the podium and state your name. Sir, whomever is next, more than welcome to step up to the podium.

Hi, good evening, everyone. I'm sorry, I couldn't fill out the yellow card. So the concern regarding that I'm here is regarding the condition of the Eastgate Park. So I think we did talk in the morning with the councilwoman. So the condition of the park is right now, as we can see, it's not getting any water at all. And it's full of weeds and all kinds of stuff. And the... Water problem has been like that since last year. I raised the issue as well. And if you can do something about it, that would be very helpful.

Thank you very much, sir.

And it's got a lot of weeds as well. So we spent a lot of money on this just barely two years ago. And we would like to see something happen. Thank you very much.

Thank you. What was your name, sir? Did you state your name, sir? My name is Navpreet.

I'm a resident of Eastgate.

Thank you very much. Thank you. City manager, I think this is very important to the entire city council that we take a look at the park and see what the issue is with the dry grass and whether or not there's an issue with the irrigation and why it's not being watered. Welcome.

Good evening. City council, city staff, and citizens here. I was doing my chamber report. This Thursday at the American Italian Bistro, we're going to have a mixer. It's a series mixer, not the multi-chamber mixer that we usually do. It'll be from 5.30 to 7.30. They're providing some food and beverages, and it's a good time to do some networking and mingle downtown. Our golf tournament is scheduled for September 25th. We're still looking for whole sponsors and teams, so if you're interested, please see me or go onto the chamber website. I'm going to switch my hat here from chamber to BK Books. Every Friday during the summer, we do read-alongs. So if you have any little ones and you would like to bring them in to listen to some children's books, we do that at 11 o'clock down at BK Bookstore and more. And July 13th through the 17th, we have a young lady who's going to come in and do a college workshop. So if you know anybody who's interested in filling out paperwork or learning more on how to apply for colleges, it's going to be a week-long workshop. That will also be at BK Bookstore and more. If you have any questions, please come and see me. Any questions?

Thank you very much. Any questions?

Thank you.

Thank you. Next person, please.

Hi, I'm Laura McCullough, Dave McCullough's wife. And I just wanted to add a little bit to his conversation. Last year, when we were walking across the crosswalk, we actually had to physically stop a car from hitting us with him putting his hand on the car. So I don't know if we, I know the crosswalk's on Garrison and Moffitt have the flashing lights, so it would make it safer for the kids. along with Doug's comment about maybe expanding the grass area. We are more concerned with safety. This weekend, there's an in and out that goes into the skate park or to the baseball diamond. Unfortunately, there's three gates to the park, and they only open one so that people that do the tournaments can actually pay to get in. They don't open the gate on Garrison, and they don't open the gate on Rose. So if we could do something about that, getting both gates open, it would open up the parking in the area. But this weekend, you couldn't even have gotten a fire truck in there. The in and out, the in thing was blocked by 10 cars going into the complex. And then around where the bus area is to Carroll Fowler, that was blocked. There's no parking signs everywhere there. So if we could work with, we have several ideas. So mostly there's the concern of the safety of the kids. Like Doug said, those cars drive so fast and parents are constantly letting their kids in and out, in and out, not only for baseball, they have cheer on the corner where they do a barbecue. They have flag football where they try out. They have the old cars that show up. It's a constant conflict right there at the corner of that intersection. So I just wanted to add that. If we could work on, it's not just about the parking, it's about the safety of our kids. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next person, please.

Hi there, Brenda Herber, and I'm here to speak tonight on golf carts. I would love to see, and I chatted with the chief about it. I would love to see the city adopt an ordinance allowing people to drive golf carts just on the residential, your slower trafficked streets. I know this weekend I attended the baseball tournament at Savannah Park, and I drove my golf cart, and I was able to get a spot within the parking lot. But with traffic the way it is, with the gas prices the way they are, just being able to maneuver around series in a golf cart truly makes life easier. I mean, we'll drive it to the yogurt shop in Richland Shopping Center, going all through residential streets. And I just, Houston does it, Oakdale does it. I would love to see Ceres do it as well. And again, I chatted with the chief about it and he forwarded information to somebody, but I just wanted to come and speak on it myself and say, I think it would be a great thing for Ceres.

Thank you.

Anybody have any questions? We're good?

Thank you. Next person, please. Anyone on Zoom?

There are no hands raised and no emails received. Okay.

Thank you very much. And we'll go ahead and close this portion of the agenda. Moving on to conflict of interest. Is there anybody on the council that has any conflict of interest? Seeing none. Moving on to appointments to boards and commissions. Selecting interview format for up and coming Measure H Citizens Oversight Interview. City Clerk.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. we just recently had a recruitment for the uh measure age committee we have one vacancy we received two applications and i'm coming before you to find out if you guys want to do an open meeting interview or if you're wanting to do a subcommittee interview thank you very much go ahead and open this up to the public is there anyone in the chambers who would like to make a comment on this item

Seeing none. I don't see any hands raised. I bring this item back to the council. Councilwoman Vieira.

Thank you, Mayor. I would like to continue with the open process that we've been doing. I'm supportive of the process that's been working. It's been working very well. I think transparency with the community is important.

Thank you very much. Councilwoman Otero.

I agree. It needs to stay an open process for the public to see and hear the interests that we have.

COMMENTS, VICE MAYOR? COMMENTS, MR. CASEY? OKAY.

THIS REQUIRES A MOTION OF BELIEF. MAKE A MOTION TO HAVE THE MEASURE H COMMITTEE AS A COUNCIL INTERVIEW DURING A REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING.

SECOND THAT.

SECOND THAT.

ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

COUNCILMEMBER CASEY?

YES.

COUNCILMEMBER VIERA? YES. COUNCILMEMBER OTERO? YES. VICE MAYOR MARTINEZ? Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Moving on to consent calendar. All matters listed on the consent calendar are considered routine or nature and will be acted by single motion unless otherwise requested by an individual council member or public for special consideration. Otherwise, the recommendation of staff will be accepted and acted upon by a roll call vote. Is there anyone on the council who would like to pull an item? Councilwoman Vieira.

Number 8.

Councilwoman Otero. you don't know that was earlier okay nobody okay members of the public that would like to pull an item please step up to the podium uh galan guzman for the record series resident uh item number four please thank you thank you very much anyone else okay i'll bring this item back for motion

Make a motion to approve items one through three, five through seven, and nine through 13 of the consent calendar.

I'll second that.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Casey.

Aye.

Council Member Vieira. Yes. Council Member Otero. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez.

Aye.

Mayor Lopez.

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

And we'll start off with item number four. Please step up to the podium. Thank you.

Again, the reason I pulled this item is because I see that there's an EV charger for City Hall charged for $24,956. I was just wondering if the city took a look into getting possibly a rebate with the Valley Air District. They do grants and refunds for folks, not just residents, but also businesses and then public agencies. So I was just wondering if you guys looked into that. Thank you, City Manager. Thanks. City Manager.

I believe we did look into, thank you for the question, Mayor. I believe we did look into grants. This was for the purchase of an electric city vehicle. I believe it has two chargers associated with it. I'm not confident if any grants were secured as a part of this, but I do know that we looked into it. Thank you.

Any other comments or questions on item number four from the audience? Council members, item. Any questions on the item? Looking for a motion?

Make a motion to approve item number four.

I'll second that.

Roll call, please.

Council member Casey?

Yes.

Council member Vieira? Yes. Council member Otero? Yes. Vice mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Council member Vieira, item number eight.

Thank you. This one, I just had some concerns regarding the gift of public funds. I know I kind of spoke with council today. It seems like it's a gray area when I don't want to necessarily put us into an area where we're looking at a possible lawsuit of concerns for donation of public funds in accordance to Article 16, Section 6 of the California law. So that was just my concern with this. And so that's the reason why I pulled it and I won't be supporting it. This specific one, just because it didn't look like there is an exchange of something, which is required under Article 16, Section 6. So this implies it's a gift to government funds, and so I couldn't be supportive of it at this time.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Is there any members of the public that would like to make a comment? Bringing this back, I do have a question before we go to you, Councilwoman Nubia. Could you elaborate on Councilwoman Vieira's concerns?

Yes, the concern the council member did identify, she reached out to our office to get a little bit more clarity on this. The concern is that there's a prohibition generally, as she stated, a gift of public funds and using public funds for a private benefit. So the question is, is there anything in law that would permit a city to provide this type of donation to a 501c3 such as a chamber for the stated purpose. Generally speaking, a scholarship is not for a public purpose. A scholarship by its own nature is to benefit an individual. The way that the request has been submitted to the council for consideration is to fund the donation to the chamber as an organization for the chamber to then select how it uses it and who it provides it for as part of their scholarship program. So there is a slight distinction, but as far as we can tell, there's nothing in state law that states one way or the other. And I think the concern as voiced by Council Member Vieira is that there isn't anything explicit that would say that it's okay to do it. So again, this is me maybe reading a little bit into what she's saying. She doesn't feel comfortable voting for something unless it's clear that it's not going to create a liability for the city. Unfortunately, there isn't anything explicit that we could find to say one way or the other. The idea behind the city's donation policy is to help advance community goals. This does advance a community goal of providing this donation to a public nonprofit. But again, it's that distinction of because it's being slated for a scholarship that creates a little bit of a gray area that I think that's exactly what council member Vieira wanted us to look into.

Yes, that's exactly it. Because for working at the college, it's considered a gift to government funds. And so we know at the college, we're not allowed to do it because it's a gift of public money or taxpayers' money that we're giving to a student. And I know at the college level, we're not allowed to do that, which is why I'm not supportive of it. If it was awarded differently or if it was for a different cause, I would be. But just strictly because it's a donation of money for the scholarship fund strictly. I can't be supportive of it, especially if it can open us for potential lawsuits in the future. So that would be a no for me.

Thank you, Council Member. Councilwoman Otero.

Thank you, Mayor. In the past, has the city donated to the Ceres Chamber of Commerce that we know of?

Yes, I believe so.

The scholarship fund versus the chamber of commerce are two different nonprofit numbers and they're two different. So we've supported their events. We've never supported the scholarship fund. We had to do that out of our personal accounts.

Thank you. I'm still supportive of the item. I know that Nubia did just explain it. There could be a potential gray area for me. We need to find ways as a city to help give back to the organizations who are helping our community here and And currently, this is the last year that we're going to be able to participate in this donation process. I do hope in the future we can generate additional funding so we can be able to do this again. And I'm hopeful that we can do it through maybe the TOT tax if we bring back the committee one day. But as of now, since there's not really a legal no, then I'm still supportive of the item. And I'll make a motion to approve item number eight.

Second. Get a roll call, please.

Council Member Casey?

Yes.

Council Member Vieira? No. Council Member Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Mayor Lopez? Yes. Motion carries 4-1.

Moving on to a public hearing, item number 14. This is adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan. And this will be introduced by our Public Works Superintendent, Joshua Casas. Welcome, sir.

JOSHUA CASAS, Good evening. Good evening, Council and Mayor. Every five years, the city is required to update its Urban Water Management Plan. The last one was for the years 2020 through 2025, and it was adopted in 2021. Here tonight, we're ready to present the 2026 through 2030 Urban Water Management Plan. Tonight, we have Patrick Scott with Blackwater Engineering, and he has a presentation for you guys on our Urban Water Management Plan.

Welcome, Patrick.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Patrick Scott and I'm a project manager with Blackwater Consulting Engineers. As Joshua stated, tonight I will be presenting the City of Ceres 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, which I'll refer to as UWMP, and the Water Shortage Contingency Plan, or WSCP. These two documents are submitted together, but will be adopted through separate resolutions, which give the city flexibility to update the WSCP independently in the future. As mentioned, my name is Patrick Scott, and I served as the project manager for the preparation of the UWMP and WSCP for the City of Ceres. UWMP is a state mandated document. It is not optional. That is required every five years under AB 797. The city of Ceres qualifies as an urban water supplier because they exceed both the 3,000 connection and 3,000 acre feet per year thresholds. Having a current adopted plan is required to remain eligible for state grants and loans, which makes tonight's adoption important for future funding opportunities. UWMP serves as the city's long-range water planning document. At its core, it helps to answer how much water will Ceres need over the next 20 years? Where will that water come from and is it reliable? What happens if a shortage occurs? What conservation programs is the city implementing? The plan helps council and city staff make informed decisions about infrastructure investments, supply diversification, and drought response before a crisis arises rather than during one. The UWMP is organized into 10 chapters. Chapters 1 through 3 cover background in the service area. Chapter 4 is water use data. Chapter 5 is conservation compliance. Chapters 6 and 7 cover water supply and reliability. Chapter 8 is the water shortage contingency plan, or WSCP. And chapters 9 and 10 wrap up with conservation programs and adoption process. 2025 UWMP follows a guidebook finalized by the Department of Water Resources or DWR in January of 2026. With this document, there were no major changes to state law since the last EWMP in 2020. The main updates that directly affected the series report are a new requirement to report progress toward the 2028 Real Water Law Standard, which I'll discuss a little later, and updated data submittal tables that must be included in the electric filing to DWR. All of their changes were administrative guidance that did not materially change what the city had to do. The city currently serves approximately 54,500 residents through 12,000 connections and supplied about 6,700 acre feet of water in 2025. Water use is tracked across several categories, but residential use is by far the largest. This chart shows total water delivered from 2020 through 2025. As you can see, usage has been very stable despite population growth, which is a good sign because it means conservation programs and efficiency improvements within the water system are keeping pace with demand. Looking ahead to 2045, demand is expected to grow gradually as the city develops toward build out. The city is currently at about 5.7 million gallons per day and project roughly 10.2 MGD at build out. Existing supply capacity of 15 MGD covers near term needs, but additional infrastructure will be needed for the city reaches build out in 2045. Senate Bill X7-7 required California water suppliers to reduce per capita water use by 20% from the historical baseline. For series, the baseline averaged 224 gallons per capita per day, or GPCD, between 2001 and 2010. That set a 2020 target of 180 GPCD. The city's actual 2020 use came in at 121 GPCD, which is well below the 2020 target. By 2025, it's down further to 110 GPCD. That's a strong downward trend and it keeps the city eligible for state water grants and loans. Senate Bill 555 requires every water supplier to meet an individual real water loss standard by 2028. Each supplier's standard was calculated using the economic model developed by the State Water Board and the supplier's own unique data. Background on some water loss terminology. Total water loss is real water loss plus apparent loss. Real loss refers to physical leaks from the distribution system, which is water escaping from pipes or storage tanks or service connections. before it actually reaches customers. Apparent loss refers to non-physical losses, such as meter inaccuracies, billing errors, and unauthorized consumption. The City of Ceres has a baseline real loss standard of 15.3 gallons per service connection per day, or GPSCD, and a 2028 real water loss standard target of 12.7 gallons per service connection per day. The most recent audit showed the city at 39.8 GPS CD, which is above the standard. The good news is the city is actively working to meet the target through leak detection and water main replacement projects. The city has two water sources currently, groundwater from 11 active wells that pull from the Turlock sub-basin and surface water that's delivered through an agreement with the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority, or SWRA, which uses Turlock Irrigation District water. That agreement came online in 2023. As the city grows towards build out, the plan calls for expanding surface water treatment capacity through SRWA and drilling additional groundwater wells to maintain reliability. Current capacity is sufficient for near term needs. Water shortage contingency plan is a chapter in the urban water management plan. It's also a standalone document that defines how the city responds to water shortages at six escalating levels, from minor restrictions up to prohibiting all landscape irrigation. The WSCP provides a structured pre-approved framework for how the city will respond to water shortages of varying severity, from minor supply constraints to severe droughts. Demand reduction actions are the specific tools used at each level to achieve the required percentage reduction, including irrigation day restrictions, outreach campaigns, and ordinance enforcement. The WSCP is designed to be updated independently of the full UWMP, allowing the city to revise shortage triggers or response actions between the five-year cycles if needed. Chapter 9 of the Urban Water Management Plan documents all the city's conservation programs. The core programs the city has is metering, tiered pricing, water waste ordinances, and public outreach. On top of that, Ceres offers a solid set of rebate programs for low water use toilets, washing machines, dishwashers, smart irrigation controllers, and turf replacement. There's also a water meter portal that lets customers monitor their usage and detect leaks online. These programs together are what's driving the per capita water use reductions. As part of the urban water management plan process, we completed all the required noticing steps. Preparation notices went out April 8th and the series courier ran public hearing notices on May 27th and June 3rd. Tonight's meeting serves as both the public hearing and adoption. Following adoption, the city has 30 days to submit the document to DWR, the state library and neighboring agencies and to make them available for public review. Once submitted, the 2025 UWMP will serve as the city's primary reference document for any water supply assessments or water supply verifications required for new development projects through 2030. That concludes the presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions the council or public may have before moving forward with the resolutions.

Thank you very much. Go ahead and open up the public hearing. Is there anybody in the chambers that would like to make a comment on this item? Seeing none, no hands raised. Sorry about that. Bring this item back for the council. Any comments or questions? Councilwoman Otero, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor, I just have a question, probably more for city staff so since we're meeting our our targets. Is there a possibility that based on and I don't know if this was the right presentation, but based on this presentation that we could possibly bring back a third water day during the summer.

Yes, this is something that we talked about with our previous director. There was a presentation given that we're showing that we were under the meeting all of our requirements for water restrictions and trying to conserve as much water as possible. At the time, I believe we were just talking about adding another day in general. And when we did the calculation for that, it brought us over our target. But if the council wants to look at maybe for a specified time of the year, we can also do calculations with that and bring it back to council for approval.

Thank you. I think that's something. Actually, I probably can't do a referral again because I did it in the past. But if someone else on the council wants to, that would be great.

Thank you, Serena. Any other comments from the Council?

Looking for a motion. Make a motion to adopt the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan.

Second.

And roll call, please.

Councilmember Casey?

Yes.

Councilmember Vieira? Yes. Councilmember Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate the time that you took on this item. Moving on to new business. This is approving an agreement between the City of Ceres and the Salvation Army for aquatics programming and authorizing the interim city manager to execute the agreement. And this item goes to Jessica, our recreational supervisor. Welcome. Thank you.

Hello, Council and Mayor. So the City of Ceres is proposing a contract with Salvation Army to provide swim lessons, recreational swim, and aquatic Zumba opportunities to the Ceres community. The partnership is intended to expand access to safe, structured aquatic programming for all residents of all ages. So under the agreement, the Salvation Army will deliver supervised swim instructions focused on water safety, basic and advanced swimming skills, and confidence in the water. The program will also include designated recreational swim sessions to provide for families and individuals with accessible and safe opportunities.

Thank you, Jessica. I'll go ahead and open this up to the public. Is there any members of the public that would like to make a comment on this item? Seeing none, I'll bring this back to the city council. Any comments or questions by the council? All right. That was a lot of buttons at the same time. I'll go with Council Member Casey first.

The swimming is going to be at the Salvation Army's pool right here in Sears?

Correct.

Do we have a way to get the kids there? Transportation? Right now they have They can ride their bikes. They can walk. Where is the pool? How far off Coast Landing is it?

It's right off of Las Vegas Street, I believe, by the flea market.

And there are fees for these services? Are the citizens of the city going to be paid a fee?

So registration would still happen here at the Ceres Community Center. Prices are the same other than recreational swim. Recreational swim went up to $4, and that is not something that we had control over. It is their facility, and they will be running the aquatics program, but all other fees will be the same.

So during the discussion, negotiating the contract, was transportation even brought up?

No.

Thank you.

Council Member Otero.

Thank you, Mayor. So before I share my concerns about this potential aquatic program, I do want to acknowledge that I'm familiar with the Salvation Army Red Shields, and I do appreciate the work that they do for families. It's a place that's been close to my heart. I, as a child, played t-ball there. My dad coached there. I volunteered as a teen, and I've brought my children there to swim as well. So they have a great pool. But my concerns tonight are not about the Red Shield facility itself, but about what this means for Ceres residents and the future of our own recreational aquatics program. Our responsibility here in the city is to make sure that families have access to all the resource they need right here in the city. So far that I've noticed, we've contracted out hoopsters. We don't have a tiny tots baseball right now. And now the aquatics program is something that is not necessarily offered here within the city. The registration is, but not the pool. So aside from the community events that we have, I feel Ceres is currently offering limited recreation programs for our youth. And while the outside organizations do a fantastic job, so the baseball, the soccer, not every family can necessarily afford those type of programs. Ceres Recreation is always an option for families to go to. And one of my concerns, Mr. Casey actually just brought it up, was accessibility. Red Shield is not necessarily walkable for children from Ceres. It is Las Vegas Street out towards Dallas and Hatch Road. It could be bike accessible, maybe not though, especially young children. My other concern is the cost. You did mention it, Jessica. It did increase to $4. Last year, it was $1 for children, $2 for adults. And my understanding is regardless of swim or not, the families had to pay that. Well, this year, they're going to pay $4, and that entry is also regardless of swim. So it is going up for families. The program is listed specifically for the series Recreation Aquatic. or on the contract, but I also want to know if on the Red Shield website, if somebody signs up through there, is that also going to be funding that's given to us if it's a Ceres resident?

As far as I'm aware, when we had our meeting, any of the individuals that register on their website would have to be from Modesto and they will be sending all Ceres residents here.

Okay. Because I checked when the agenda first came out, I checked and I did see that Zumba and fitness was already offered. I did look this afternoon. There's some lessons that are already posted. Some of them are already full. Are those classes that they posted going to be side by side with ours? Because these are at the same time or now that one of the classes is full. Our residents are not a lot and can't register through series recreation. Like how are those times going to be managed between the rec department and Red Shield?

They have three zones in their pool. And so whenever they do the scheduling with whatever they offer and we send our registration, they will be working on the schedule to make sure that each individual is served appropriately.

Okay.

Thank you.

And another question, for the day swim, it's an open swim I assume with Red Shield's registrations as well?

Anything that is posted on Red Shield that does not 100% correlate with the City of Ceres. Our registrations will be on our end, on our website, with our links, and they would have to come in or register online through us specifically.

So, for example, if somebody in the community tonight hears about Red Shield's going to have open recreation swim or City of Ceres, if they go on the Red Shield site tonight and register for rec swim, how are we going to know that a registration took place if it was one of our residents?

With the meeting that we had, what was discussed is anybody that would register through them would have to show that they live in Ceres. If anybody goes there with the City of Ceres residence ID or utilities, they would be informed they have to come over here to register.

Thank you. Back in February, when I first learned about the program through social media, it was being canceled. I had met with some staff and offered ideas to help save it. I actually had another meeting scheduled with staff on March 31st to explore another potential option, because for me, it was important that we looked at all options to try to save it for here at the series pool. When Mayor announced it on March 26th that the program was saved, I actually was surprised because the council had not been made aware of any finalized solution and there wasn't an agreement in place yet. So it has taken a few months for this contract to come before council. I feel like we've created some confusion and some false hope for the community in the meantime. So going forward, I just want to make sure that we do have a better plan for next year. We involve all the council members on the status and start now on looking at what the future aquatic program will look like. I don't feel that we've actually still received a, we didn't receive a clear explanation for why the program was canceled beyond the budget constraints. or whether every option was truly explored to keep it here in Ceres. At the end of the day, this program is no longer held in Ceres. It's managed by our Ceres Recreation. For me, that is something that matters to residents. Residents were first told to look to Modesto and Turlock for some lessons, and now we're asking them to go to another Modesto location. So I do have concerns. I don't think it's fair. I think it's confusing for families. The issue to me is it's still not resolved. The goal has been to keep aquatic programs in series or build a partnership that would. So I would challenge us to start planning for next year and find solutions that are going to truly serve the community of series. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member of Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Jessica, how long is this contract for?

It ends August, 2026. Thank you.

And then during your negotiations with the red cross, uh, our salvation army, I apologize. Salvation army. Was there any discussion about having their staff working at series high and allowing the schools pool to be used?

Yes. So when I first, um, came in to these duties, it was discussed that it would be held at the series pool until the the Salvation Army's pool was fully renovated. So at first, we did go into the contract thinking that at least some of it would be held at Ceres High. And then their pool got finished way before schedule. And because of that, it got moved to Las Vegas.

That's that's great for them. Unfortunately, it doesn't solve our problem. Our youth aren't going to have easy access getting there. When we first discussed it and the talks were that it was going to be at serious high school as accessible for people, especially kids that live around the baseball field in the parks. I don't know if I could support them having to go all the way out there or having to have families set aside ways to get them there. Like Mr. Casey concerned, our concerns were brought up by Mr. Casey. There's not easily accessible ways to get there. So I don't know if I could support this at this time either.

We also found that the insurance would not support any third parties at series high pool. So our insurance would not support Salvation Army being at series high.

Jessica, you said that this contract is only for one year, correct? Jessica? Well, I mean, it's just for this cycle, correct? And have you and the city manager had any discussions about what would that look like next year? We have not.

Okay.

City manager, at this time, we don't have the ability to finance our own aquatics program, correct? Correct. That is correct. So to my counsel, this is only temporary. And we know that this is not a long-term solution. Our members of the public were very surprised, as was I, to find out that prematurely it was announced that the aquatics program was canceled. I think that's unfortunate. And when I made my comments at the State of the City address, I said that there was a potential opportunity for the aquatic program to be saved. And I think this is an opportunity for one time for us to provide aquatics to the citizens of Ceres. This is only one cycle. And if the City Council wants to continue to have aquatics programs at Ceres High, we need to look look towards the budget and see if we can actually fund it. And until then, I think this is a great opportunity for the citizens of Ceres. The location of the Salvation Army is right across, right across the street from the city of Ceres. You turn right on Crows Landing from Whitmore and your first left is Dallas. It's literally right there. Crows Landing is just as, Crows Landing flea market is just as far as the Salvation Army. So any resident can clearly go across town and be able to put their children into the aquatics program. And I know the citizens have been asking for a way for us to figure this out. This is the solution that I think the city staff worked really hard to put together. And I thank you very much, Jessica, for doing so. I will be supporting this item. Council Member Rivera.

Thank you. Jessica, I have a couple questions. I think you answered a lot of my questions. I just want to confirm, there is no cost for this that's going to affect our budget, correct? Okay. So I just wanted to make sure there was no additional cost. So even if we approve this, even if it's not 100% of what we want, there's still no additional cost that's affected us. It just allows one additional opportunity, even if it isn't our favorite color or location.

Okay. Yes, that's correct, Councilwoman. And the other comment that Jessica and I were talking about that we wanted to make known was not only did this positively affect by not creating an extra cost, we were able to, a lot of the adjustments that were done to the budget to bring us balanced were a lot of the lifeguard trainings and all these other things costs that we didn't have to incur. The other thing is whether we're supportive or not, sometimes we have to remember that there's people constantly in here looking for this and are already signing up with Jessica for this program, already asking about it. When the decision was made to try and push it through, it was already too late in the season for us to on our own, do the recruitment of lifeguards, do the training of lifeguards, make sure that everybody's certified. The option was that there would be no other option. So the fact that Salvation Army already had the staffing, the training, and everything ready allows us to still provide something this year for the series residents. You know, that's due to a lot of the work that Jessica and the city manager did in speaking with Salvation Army and trying to negotiate all the details of that.

Thank you. And then I have one more. I'm assuming the hours have changed or expanded since it doesn't interfere with school. Because I know at Ceres High School, we had some hours restrictions due to summer school and other activities at the school. Does it look like these hours have expanded compared to what we had when we offered it here in town? Is that correct? Or are they about the same?

It would expand a little bit more into August. we would have four sessions. So it'd be through July and August. And if families chose to take their kids after school, because our contract goes until August 30th. So if they did choose to continue, they would be able to. Our goal was to try to provide as much opportunity for the citizens of Ceres to be able to register. We have had multiple people in here every single day. It's almost a revolving door of families coming in wanting to register. And so I know this is something that's very important to the community and to the children and to the parents if it passes.

Thank you. And I just want to confirm, if this doesn't pass, that means there's no other options or there won't be, we're already going into July. There won't be any other options between now and the end of August. All right. Thank you.

And I know that the other council members have pressed their button. A question that I should have asked earlier. In the contract, it says that we are receiving 30% of the revenue that's going towards this. And that would go straight into the general fund. Okay. And I'll go to Council Member Casey. Okay.

Did we consider raising the fees? Would they have been astronomical to keep our pool? And again, back to the transportation question, there is no way to transport these people from eight-year-old kid to Las Vegas Avenue.

Well, each child would have to go with their parent. They're not able to just be dropped off, so a parent would have to go there. Transportation was not touched on. I'm unsure if Salvation Army has any way of transportation, but I know City of Ceres does not. And there was no talk, at least since I've took over, about raising fees.

Councilwoman Otero.

Thank you. Really quick, Josh and Jessica, I do appreciate the work that you did do on this. We found out in February that this program was canceled. It was suddenly. So for me, there was still the concern that we didn't explore All options out there. I feel like back in February, there had to have been some time before that that the prior city manager knew this was coming. It's just unfortunate that it was just kind of thrown on you guys. One thing about the open swim, I believe if it's still the same, it's been a very long time, but Red Shield, I believe, has a check-in process where parents don't have to attend. So I would double check that. I don't know if this is approved tonight, if that creates a liability on the city if something were to happen. But yes, for some lessons and all that, maybe. But I know for open swim, I think kids check in and then they're free to just roam around there. So that would be another concern. Thank you.

Thank you. Vice Mayor? Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. You wanted to respond to that?

Yes. With the contract, the liability... Salvation Army holds the insurance fault for all liability. That would not be on the city of Ceres because we are not holding the program.

vice mayor thank you mr mayor uh thank you jessica and thank you josh for both you guys uh undertaking this i appreciate the work i'm sure you guys did a lot of uh extra things especially jessica what's it was just kind of thrust on you recently uh and josh thank you for clarifying that people have already been in here and looked into signing up and already expecting this i appreciate that does uh that coupled with the fact that there's no real cost to the city and there's a potential revenue increase uh does make it a little easier for me to make my decision So with that, I'm going to make a motion approving the agreement between the City of Ceres and the Salvation Army for aquatics programming and authorizing interim city manager to execute the agreement.

I'll second that.

May I get a roll call, please?

Council Member Casey?

No.

Council Member Vieira? Yes. Council Member Otero? No. Vice Mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 3-2.

Congratulations, staff, and great work. And you can start letting the residents know.

Mr. Mayor, can I ask for a five-minute recess?

Let's go for a five-minute recess. Thank you, everybody.

Ready to begin. Welcome back, everyone.

Item number 16. calling for the holding of a general municipal election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, for the election of, excuse me, certain officers and voting on a locally controlled one cent sales tax ballot measure as required by the provisions of the law of the state of California relating to general law cities and series municipal code. And this will be led by the city clerk. And we do have four different items. City clerk, would you like to go one by one? Will this be done by the city manager or city clerk? City manager, go ahead. It just said city clerk, but go ahead, sir.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor and city council members. Before you tonight is a request to consider four separate resolutions. I would like to talk about the first three resolutions first as an item and then talk about the fourth resolution last. So these first three items are procedural election-related actions that would typically be presented as consent calendar items. However, because the proposed ballot measure, which is item number four, would appear on the same November 3rd, 2026 ballot, all four resolutions have been consolidated into a single staff report for efficiency and clarity. The first three resolutions are necessary to conduct the city's November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election and do not concern the merits of the ballot measure. Resolution number one, it calls for the holding of the city's general municipal election on November 3rd, 2026. Under state law and series municipal code, the city is required to call an election for those offices whose terms are expiring. In this election, voters will elect one council member from District 1 and one council member from District 2, each for a four-year term. In addition, if approved by the council later this evening, this ballot would also include the proposed sales tax measure. This resolution is the formal action required to call that election. Resolution number two. This resolution requests consolidation of the city's general municipal election with the statewide general election being conducted by Stanislaus County on November 3rd, 2026. Consolidation is the standard practice utilized by the city. It allows the county registrar of voters to administer the election, utilize the same precincts and election officials, conduct the canvas, and place the city items on the same ballot as statewide contests. The city will reimburse the county for the actual costs associated with conducting this election. Resolution number three. This resolution adopts regulations regarding candidate statement for individuals seeking election to city council. State law authorizes the city council to establish procedures regarding candidate statements, which may be included in the voter information guide. This proposed resolution establishes the standard 200-word candidate statement, requires candidates to pay the estimated cost of printing, mailing, and any required translations, and provides for adjustments after the election if actual costs are higher or lower than estimated. The current estimated cost provided by the registrar voters is approximately $1,400 per city council candidate statement. Candidate statements will also be translated into Spanish as required by law. For the City Council's awareness, the nomination period for District 1 and District 2 candidates will open on July 13, 2026, and will close on August 7, 2026, unless an incumbent fails to file, in which case state law provides for a five-day extension. In summary, resolutions one, two, and three are procedural actions necessary to conduct the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election and establish the administrative framework for candidate filings and election administration. And with that background, I'll now move on to resolution number four. We can present the PowerPoint please. I have a six slide PowerPoint to accompany my presentation regarding resolution number four. Tonight's presentation for resolution number four concerns a proposed locally controlled funding measure that staff is recommending being placed before series voters in the November, 2026 election. The purpose of tonight's discussion is to review the community outreach that has occurred, the fiscal challenges facing the city, the proposed measure, and the accountability provisions that would apply if approved by voters. Next slide. Citywide engagement and community survey. Earlier this year, the city conducted the series community conversation initiative to gather input from residents regarding community priorities and city services. More than 300 residents participated in this engagement effort, providing valuable feedback regarding services that they consider most important to maintaining the quality of life in Ceres. In addition, the city reviewed the results of an independently conducted survey in 2025 that consisted of an additional 311 Ceres voters. One of the key findings from that survey was that approximately 73% of respondents indicated that they believed the city could benefit from additional funding to maintain the level of services residents expect. The feedback gathered through these efforts helped inform the recommendation being presented tonight. Next slide. The situation in Ceres. Like many California cities, Ceres continues to face financial challenge. During the June 8th, 2026 meeting, the city council adopted a balanced budget after reducing from a status quo deficit of $5.6 million. Smaller cities often have fewer revenue generating opportunities than larger jurisdictions while still being expected to provide a full range of municipal services. At the same time, state and regional fiscal pressures create uncertainty regarding future funding sources available to local governments. One option that is available to cities is a voter approved local funding. Under state law, revenue generated through a locally approved transaction and use tax remains under local control and must be used consistent with the measure approved by voters. The measure before you tonight in resolution four is intended to provide the community an opportunity to decide whether this funding tool should be used in series. Next slide. Slide number four is community priorities. The proposed measure would establish a locally controlled one cent sales tax. Based on current projections, the measure is estimated to generate approximately $9.4 million annually. Throughout the community engagement process, residents identified several priorities they believe are important to maintaining the quality of life in Ceres. These priorities included maintaining emergency 911 response times, hiring and retaining qualified police officers, maintaining police patrol services, addressing gang-related activity, and addressing homelessness and clearing encampments. It is important to note that tonight's action is not a vote to enact the tax. Rather, the action before the council tonight is whether to place the measure before the voters so that they may decide the issue in November. Next slide. Slide number five is accountability and local control. The proposed measure includes several accountability provisions designed to promote transparency and public oversight. These provisions include independent annual financial audits, independent performance audits, public disclosure of expenditures, and citizen oversight. Additionally, revenues generated by the measure would remain locally controlled and could only be used for authorized purposes benefiting the Ceres community. The measure further provides that these funds cannot be taken by the county, the state, or the federal government. Last slide. Staff recommendation. Over the past several months, the City has evaluated options for maintaining service levels while addressing ongoing fiscal challenges. The City has also considered the feedback received from residents regarding the services that they consider most important. Without additional revenue sources, the City may be required to consider additional reductions in programs, staffing, and service levels. Based upon the financial outlook, the community input and available funding option, staff recommends that the city council place a one cent locally controlled sales tax measure before the voters at the November, 2026 election. Again, approval of this recommendation would not impose the tax. It would simply allow the voters of Ceres to consider and decide the question for themselves. That concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you very much.

We'll go ahead and open this up to the public. Any members of the public would like to speak on this item, please step up to the podium now.

Good evening. My name is John Blount. I'm the Vice President for the Serious Police Officer Association, and we are here to speak on behalf of the members of our association. regarding the submission of a ballot measure for the one-cent sales tax. I'll hand it over to this association president.

Welcome. Good evening, Mayor and Council. On behalf of the Ceres Police Officers Association, we support placing this tax measure before the voters. Our department continues to face significant staffing and resource challenges. Additional funding would help ensure we can continue providing the level of public safety our community deserves. Without additional revenue, the reality is that the level of services the city can provide has declined and will continue to decrease over time as departments face ongoing budget and staffing constraints. We've been unable to fully staff our department for more than 12 years. As a result, we have had to reduce the level of service provided to the community. We have eliminated many non-sworn positions and reassigned officers from specialty assignments that are critical to complex services. complex and violent crime investigations. These reductions directly affect our community that we serve. This fiscal year alone, the police department was forced to leave eight budgeted positions unfunded due to financial constraints, more than any other department in the city. As staffing and resources continue to decline, so does our ability to proactively address crime and community concerns. For example, specialty units that address many of the community's primary concerns such as violent crime, gang activity, drug enforcement, and traffic safety have been significantly reduced or eliminated due to budget and or staffing shortages. In fact, across the Central Valley, we are one of the only, if not the only, law enforcement agency our size that does not currently have officers assigned to proactive units dedicated to gang and drug enforcement. These challenges become even more significant when considering the city's long-term financial outlook. Without additional revenue, the city's structural budget deficit is expected to grow in the coming years. At the same time, the cost of the city's fire services contract continues to increase annually. We greatly value the services provided by the Modesto Fire Department and appreciate the high level of fire protection they deliver. However, the city's contractual obligation to those services is projected to nearly double over the life of the agreement, increasing from approximately $6 million in 2022 to approximately $12 million by 2031. The city's financial challenges are not new. Over the past several years, the city has faced reoccurring budget deficits and has relied on one-time funding sources to lessen the impact of those shortfalls. Those one-time funds have largely been exhausted and reserves continue to be used to maintain services and balance these budgets. As the city works to continue to address these ongoing financial challenges, increasing contractual costs and declining reserves will place additional pressure on core city services. including public safety. We are concerned that without additional revenue, further reductions to police staffing and services may become necessary. Communities throughout our region have faced similar challenges and have turned to their residents to help determine the path forward. We believe CRE should do the same. To be clear, we are not asking the council to vote in favor of this tax measure tonight. We are simply asking you to place it on the November ballot and allow the residents of Ceres to decide for themselves. The citizens of Ceres are your constituents. They elected you to represent them, and they are the ones who will ultimately live with the outcome of this decision. Whether voters ultimately approve or reject the measure is not for us to decide, nor is it for the council to decide. It is a decision that belongs to the people of Ceres. We believe our residents deserve the opportunity to weigh the costs, benefits, and priorities for their community to make the choice at the ballot box. We also want the community to know that we are committed to being part of this conversation. We welcome the opportunity to meet with neighborhood groups, community organizations, local businesses, and individual residents to discuss this measure and answer any questions they may have. We believe informed voters make the best decisions, and we are committed to providing transparency about the challenges facing public safety and potential impact this measure could have on the future of our city. Our goal is not to simply advocate for the ballot measure, but to work alongside the community we serve. We believe open communication and honest dialogue are essential, and we want residents to have the information they need to make the decision that reflects their priorities and their vision for Ceres. That is what we are asking tonight. Trust this is into series with decision and give them the opportunity to determine whether they want, what they want for the future of their city. Thank you guys for your time and consideration.

Thank you very much. Anybody else would like to make a comment on this item? Please state your name.

Alan Guzman for the record.

I'm against putting this on the ballot. This is very similar to the Measure H, what is it? Measure ballot that was put back in 2007. Sorry, I didn't write a speech, so I'm just going off the fly, so just hear me out. I've already expressed my concerns with the oversight committee. So one of my question is, is it just the yearly audits or can we do, if this does get placed on the ballot and it gets passed, instead of yearly audits, can we do quarterly audits? Because the oversight committee, I've already expressed my concerns with the oversight committee the last public comment, I mean, during public comment of the last city council meeting. Secondly, People are struggling. This is 1% increase on the sales tax. That would put it at 9.375% for sales tax revenue. Most people that I've talked to, they're really struggling right now. I see homes up for sale left and right now. That's not a good sign of economic prosperity. And so I feel like if you guys consider this and put it on for voters to vote, in November, it's not good for the general public. In addition, Modesto has the Measure H, and it's not just for police and fire, it's also for parks. Most of our discussion today, it's considering services for our community. it just really upsets me because back in 2007, you know, it was just for fire and police, whereas Modesto had the measure age and it was like funds were allocated to homelessness. They were also advocated for like public parks, you know, funding certain administrative, like the city clerk positions, you know, and it just seems like we, Yeah, I also have a problem with the community engagement survey. Yeah, 311 people did this survey, but in reality, out of 49,600 people in City of Ceres, that's not even 1%. That's 0.6%. I did the math. Woohoo, 300, but that's not a big number. Secondly, if you take a look at the community survey that was done back in 2025, it was only open for 10 days. We paid these people $13,500 for only 10 days. I know that there's a lot that goes behind the works, but I think it should have been open for a greater amount of time. Secondly, also, if you take a look at the survey, out of It said 80% of the people that participated in the survey, which is 248 people, said that they had a concern with inflation and rising prices. Secondly, homelessness was the second one, 74%. That's 238. uh voters okay and the third one was the cost of living 70 which is 217 out of those 311 okay all of these have to do with finance and the day-to-day living of people and if you were to increase the sales tax that's just putting a bigger strain on families having to buy to buy you know uh clothes for for their children that go to school if you have four children or five children that's a lot of money It's just it may seem like one percent, but that's a lot of money for a family. You know, I just don't feel it's adequate. I don't think it's a good, good call for like in series in general, you know, and also we're just, you know, throwing more money to police and fire. You know, one of the concerns is homelessness. But what is it? What does that entail? You know, like I know that like. you guys approve like CDBG grant funding, you know, up to 50% for code enforcement for blight control, but that's not really resolving anything, you know? It's just reacting instead of trying to solve the problem, you know? And yeah, there's care and there's chat and stuff, but how successful has that been? You know, and so this is an issue that's like that I think about all the time. And I think it's not a good idea to place this on the ballot because for the everyday person, it's just going to make everyday life harder. And I think there's food insecurity. There's you know, people are struggling. So I would. advise, and I hope the council doesn't put this on the ballot, because I think it'll put a strain on the day-to-day, everyday families. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Next person, please.

Hey, Prada series. Survey says, I don't believe in surveys. They seem to be one-sided. It depends on who's paying for the surveys. And actually, I'd like to know the so-called 300 residents that actually voted for it. What interests me more or anything is the last part of that when you said the audits. You guys can't even get the audits in for your measure L funds. So how do we expect to have you get an accurate and on time audit on this funds? I tell you right now, I vote no on all tax increases and bonds because most of that money does not go where they claim it's going to go. You may say that right now. They all say that. But that's not where the money usually winds up.

Thank you, Mr. Pratt. Next person, please.

Greetings, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, city staff. My name is Mason Sanchez, and Ceres is a city that I call home. Surely we are in need, a financial need, for our city and funding. That is not something that we don't know. Everybody here can agree to that to the fullest. I'm a big supporter, no doubt, of our 911 emergency services all across the board in various ways. You guys know that as well. And it's something that I push for personally in my own time and volunteer for, advocate for in various ways. When I got wind of this possible increase in the taxes, I no doubt was in the middle of it. I was a little undecisive of it. Do I feel there's a need for it? Personally, I do. Would it benefit our city? Yes, it will. But it's not always about that. It's about the families within the city. It's about the families within our community. It's about the individuals that are on a fixed income. It's about the individuals that are struggling. To us, we would be like, okay, yeah, 1% tax increase, no big deal. Let's continue forward. But you let that go to the individuals that are not all financially set and secure. Let them, ask them what they feel. To us, it's nothing. To us, it's not much. But to them, it's a different story. So think about it whenever you guys do decide not necessarily what would be good for us personally, not only as a city to benefit, but more for the families in our city.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Next person, please.

I wasn't going to speak, but I can't resist it. Shirley Rogers, my answer is no. And how much did it cost for you to have somebody survey 300 people on what we might want? We're a bigger city than 300 people. You don't spend the money properly, so why should we give you more? You put in a roundabout because you say it only costs half the city money because the state give us money. But then you turn around and take the roundabout out. And in the meantime, you put a stop sign a block away. So you didn't save half of the cost of the roundabout. You wasted our half. You have to make better decisions if you want decisions from us. Remember, a one cent tax is forever. They're not going to ever cancel it. It's like the tax we did for the fire and the police. If I remember correctly, it was a certain percent for a small amount of time. And then, boom, it was half that amount forever. Think about what you're doing.

Thank you very much. Anybody else?

Good evening, Council, John Warren, City of Ceres. 49,000 is roughly the population of our community. And of that, we have 11,000 utility bills, which tells us we have approximately 11,000 houses. that we live in in our city, which is about 4.4 persons per house. And I made an inquiry at the beginning of the meeting from one of the staff members just to double check. And the average income per household is approximately $79,000. which is roughly $40,000 per person in that household, because each household probably has two people in it that earn a salary, which, if you do the math, comes pretty close. So we're asking people in our community that are making $40,000 a year to support another 1 cent sales tax. So when they go out and buy a $50,000 car, if they can afford to do that, it's going to cost them an additional $500 in sales tax. And that's wherever they buy that car at. If they go to Modesto, if they go to Lodi, if they go to San Jose, their zip code here in Ceres is what the sales tax is going to be based on. They go buy a washing machine in another community, their zip code follows them. So that sales tax is going to follow them wherever they go. And I'm not so sure that these people are the 300 that were interviewed. I know some of the 300 are in the audience that were interviewed. I'm not so sure about the other 311, but... I do know because I saw some of the comments that were made on Facebook. And so I would hope that more of the folks in the audience tonight would speak. I'm not quite so sure what an independent annual financial and performance audit actually is and how the public disclosure of the spending will take place. I mean, a comment can be made someplace, posted up on the bulletin board down there at City Hall, and that informs the citizens of what? Just like we announce our agenda for the city council meeting. And who gets that in the community, OK? So anyway, think about these things. I'm not going to comment on what my thought is other than the comments that I have made tonight. I'm not so sure if I would vote yes when it comes time for me to check my ballot. Just because of the burden it puts on the other members of the community that are less fortunate than some of us that are in this room. So I think those are things that we need to think about as well as that $9.4 million and how you're going to spend that money. Because right off the bat, $5.6 million every year just brings us to even Steven. And then we have to think about adding those 14 positions that are not working right now that we need to fill and what it will cost to fill those. So that $9.4 million that you're going to get isn't going to bring us what we need. So other measures and other thoughts have to take place to figure that out. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Is there anybody else that would like to make a comment? We'll go ahead and go to the raised hands on Zoom.

Joe Spani, you can go ahead and unmute your mic.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Can everybody hear me okay?

Yes, we can.

Thank you. My name is Joe Spani. I'm a Ceres resident. I'm here representing the firefighters who proudly serve the city of Ceres every day. Tonight, I'd like to speak in support of placing this locally controlled funding measure before the voters. This proposal is not about expanding services beyond what residents need. It's about maintaining the level of service that community expects and deserves. Earlier this year, the city was forced to make nearly $5.6 million dollars and budget and service reductions without additional local funding further cuts may become necessary and those cuts inevitably affect the services residents rely on every day firefighters who serve this community see firsthand the growing demands placed on local government as demands increase maintaining adequate staffing training equipment and emergency response capabilities become even more important One of the strongest aspects of this measure is that the funding remains local. The revenues generated here in series stay in series can't be taken by Sacramento or Washington DC. The measure also includes independent audits, public disclosure requirements and citizen oversight to ensure accountability and transparency. The city's done its homework through community surveys and public outreach residents consistently identified maintaining emergency response times and public safety services as top priorities. This measure directly addresses those priorities. Ultimately, the decision belongs to the voters. Supporting placement of this measure on the ballot simply gives residents of Ceres the opportunity to decide whether maintaining emergency response capabilities, public safety services, and essential city services is important enough to invest in locally. On behalf of the firefighters who serve this community, I respectfully urge your support to place this on the ballot. I appreciate your time.

Thank you very much. Next person.

Josh Steele, go ahead and unmute your mic.

I'm unmuted. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Perfect. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. I'm speaking in opposition to the proposed one-cent sales tax measure titled the Series 911 Emergency Response and Community Safety Essentials Measure. I support police, emergency response, and essential services. That is not the issue. The issue is that the measure is being presented as if it is dedicated to 911 and public safety when the agenda material is identified as a general-purpose sales tax for general city revenue. That matters. If the money is not legally restricted to 911 response, police staffing, or emergency services, then the title is misleading. It may be spent on those things, but it can also be used for general city operations. Voters deserve plain language. If this is a general tax, then let's call it a general tax. If it's dedicated strictly for 911 response and police staffing, let's tie it legally to 911 and police staffing. This measure would raise Ceres sales tax rate from 8.375% to 9.375%. That is a significant increase for a working class community. Ceres residents are already dealing with high costs for food, rent, gas, insurance, utilities, and basic household needs. About 16% of residents in Ceres live in poverty. That is much larger than the 300 that was surveyed. And compared to the state average of about 12%, Ceres median household income is $79,000, while the California median household income is $92,000. That means Ceres residents are already earning substantially less than the statewide median. Yet this proposal would ask them to pay higher sales tax at the register. Sales taxes hit lower-income households harder because they spend a large share of their income on everyday purchases. A wealthier household can absorb the increase more easily. A family living paycheck-to-paycheck cannot. It is also troubling that Ceres would be asking residents to pay a higher sales tax rate than more affluent communities, including Laguna Hills, which is 7.75%. Ceres is not an affluent coastal or Orange County suburban. It is working class Central Valley City. Our residents should not be asked to pay a higher sales tax rate than people in wealthier cities while our own city is still trying to fix structural budget problems. Before asking residents for more money, the city should show that it has done the hard work first. That means balancing the budget, rebuilding reserves, reviewing consultant contracts, controlling overtime, reviewing legal costs, and proving that existing tax dollars are being managed responsibly. Serious families deserve emergency services, but they also deserve honesty and affordability. Do not place a high burden on working class residents under a title that makes it sound like a dedicated 911 tax when the documents say it is a general tax. For those reasons, I oppose this proposal. If it's a 911 tax, tie it to that legally. Otherwise, call it a general tax. Thank you.

Is there any additional hands raised?

No, there are no additional hands raised.

Did we receive any emails?

We did receive a couple emails. First one is from Nick Maynard. It reads, please read this public comment into the record for item number 16. Dear city clerk and members of the city council, I'm writing to submit public comment regarding item 16, the proposed locally controlled one cent sales tax ballot measure. I am not in favor of placing this measure on the November 3rd, 2026 ballot. I understand the city is facing budget challenges and I appreciate the importance of public safety, emergency response, clean neighborhoods, and essential city services. However, I believe the city needs to focus first on balancing the budget it already has, reviewing spending priorities, and providing residents with a clear accounting of where the current tax revenue is going before asking taxpayers for more money. Ceres is already one of the higher taxed cities in Stanislaus County when it comes to sales tax. Current listed rates include Modesto at 8.875%, Turlock at 8.625%, Ceres at 8.375%, Oakdale at 8.375%, and Patterson, Newman, Riverbank, and Houston and Waterford at 7.875%. If this measure were approved, Ceres would increase from 8.375% to 9.375%, making Ceres the highest sales tax rate among the cities listed in Stanislaus County. That would not only place a larger burden on Ceres residents, it could also give people more motivation to spend their money outside of the city, especially when several nearby communities already have lower sales tax rates. Ceres has added several new businesses over the last few years, which should be generating additional sales tax revenue that did not previously exist. At the same time, residents are dealing with higher costs across the board, including higher property tax bills, utilities, insurance, groceries, gas, and just about everything else. Many families are already stretched thin. The proposed measure is being presented as the Series 911 Emergency Response Community Safety essential services measure, but the staff report also describes it as a general one cent transactions and use tax. That would be a major new revenue source for the city, and residents deserve a full explanation of why the current budget cannot be managed without increasing the local sales tax. Before asking residents to approve another tax, I would like to see the city continue working through spending reductions, efficiency improvements, department-by-department reviews, and greater transparency around existing revenue and expenses. A tax increase should not be the first or easiest answer. For those reasons, I oppose placing this one-cent sales tax measure on the ballot. Thank you for including my comment in the public record.

Thank you. Is that the only email you received?

No, we have one more from Trudy Wade. She states, I'm totally against another tax increase. With the rising costs of everything else, we do not need a tax increase. When you drive around and see a lot of city workers driving around, seems to me we should be more accountable if what they are doing. Make cuts to those jobs to help relieve our budget problems. That concludes the emails received.

Okay, thank you very much. And with that, we'll go ahead and close public comment. We'll bring this item back to the council if you guys have any comments and or questions. Council members? Council Member Otero, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. I had a lot of comments during the whole entire budget process, and I've been grateful for all this work that staff did during that budget process because Aside from that, now we're facing this. Before I share some comments, I do want to ask some questions. So for our city manager, I did notice the survey explanation on the website when the residents would click there. It seemed different than what was on the mailer. Not exactly, but for me, when I first saw the mailer, there was no mention on the website about medical response when it came to like the 911 calls. So I just want to make sure that, was there a reason for that? Can you share that with the public?

Thank you, Councilmember Otero. I will do my best. As I was not here, I asked a similar question and maybe Nubia can help me. But my understanding is as the city engaged the community in mid last year and began receiving feedback from the community, they use that feedback to fine tune the language sent out in subsequent mailers. So over time, as additional mailers were sent out, additional community feedback opportunities became available through the city that was informed through the feedback received from previous feedback. So over time, I think that a couple of words did change from when it first started in mid last year to what was most recently sent out in March. or the early parts of this year, but that's as a result of fine tuning the language from the feedback received.

Thank you. And also, if this measure does pass in November, if it's approved tonight to be on the ballot, will there be a citizen oversight committee?

Yes, there will be a Citizens Oversight Committee. There will be annual independent audits. And I've already committed as part of the regular budget that there will be quarterly updates. Those quarterly updates will include reports on this measure as well.

Thank you. I do want to thank all the residents that showed up tonight. The labor unions to share your thoughts and everyone on zoom currently. This one, you know, it's tough for me because I I've spent many hours in the past, probably a month and a half, just looking at the budget, looking at prior years, looking at Measure H, and just trying to figure out, like, how did our city get here? We'll have the highest tax if this were to pass, and that's concerning. So doing my own research, I know that Ceres currently has the transient occupancy tax. That is not... that's not brought in by the residents, it's brought in by visitors. And I think that's a good thing for our community because it does bring in funds. And in 2015, Measure E had increased it from 5% to 10%. But with that, I bring that up because I had asked this past year or during my time on the council, we've got to make sure we have the Airbnb and vacation rental policy as well because that would fall under the TOT tax. We also need to make sure that we bring back the TOT citizen advisory committee to oversee that. I think that's a huge problem too. Residents should be able to oversee, especially because the either finance or city manager turnover, we've had a lot over several years. So that oversight for me matters. It helps to ensure that the funds are used as intended. I also raised concern to the city manager about the measure H public safety expenditure plan. The ordinance is clear that the measure H was meant to supplement public safety, not replace it. So I know that he's reviewed the ordinance as well. I don't believe that we should have unfunded positions when, when voters initially had approved this measure for additional public safety services, such as the street crimes unit at that time. So we do need to get that in place immediately. I also recall during a Measure H committee, we did have a, during a Measure H meeting, we had a committee member who requested a forensic audit, and I don't remember that concern ever being addressed after that. I think that that also matters if a committee member has brought something to the city's attention. Our citizens do deserve accurate information. And when I asked for a forensic audit overall, there was no consensus But we're asking for the public to trust us. So we need to get the audits done. We need to show the community their tax dollars are measured or managed properly. If we're asking the public to trust us with another tax measure, then we need to tighten up our financial policies right now. We can't do it later anymore. Every tax measure needs to have oversight. concerns by oversight members should never be ignored. So again, tonight, however this goes, this does not mean that I'm endorsing the measure, but I do believe that the voters deserve the opportunity to decide, and all of us will be able to, if it makes it to the ballot, get to choose if we're going to support this tax passing. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. Is there any additional comments from the Council? Go ahead, Councilwoman Vera. You're fine.

Just a quick question. I just related to the agenda item. One of them is, I just wanted to confirm, because I believe, Anuba, you may correct me, I believe Patterson just kind of approved the same ballot measure for theirs to move up 1%. Is that correct?

Yes. Last Tuesday evening, the Patterson City Council voted to place a sales tax measure on the ballot for voter consideration.

And it's the same percent, the 1%, I believe it is. And then this is just strictly to put it on the ballot. It's not to endorse a supporter or anything like that. It'll come back after the election.

Yes. So state law is very clear that once an item or even if a city is considering placing a sales tax measure on the ballot, public funds can't be used to endorse a sales tax measure. So moving forward, again, depending on the council's direction, city, just along with every other city and government, level of government in the state of California, has very specific guidelines on how it can present information, informational data to the voters. But the council's action tonight would dictate if that actually would move forward. And again, as you stated, the only time it really comes back is once the voters, if the voters were to approve it, if the council places it on the ballot following the November election, then the ordinance is also therefore approved by the voters. And it's the council's prerogative to carry out those, requirements in the code. So there's been discussion tonight about the oversight committee. The code does provide for the city council establishing a five member committee and establishing the rules and regulations, probably very much so like your other measure committees and other committees that you have standing committees for selection and public input and resident participation, as well as the we've discussed the annual audit requirements. So those are all processes the council will oversee through the ordinance if the voters approve it in the fall.

And that's all outlined in the ordinance. That's not something that we need to worry about.

Right. And again, the council only considers this for presentation to the voters. The voters ultimately approve it or not. So making changes to the ordinance also would require voter approval to change it.

Thank you.

Mr. Casey, go ahead, council member.

Sure. Initially, when I heard about this, I don't know how many years ago, I opposed it. I have second thoughts about even approving it to go on the ballot, although I believe wholeheartedly that our citizens have so little to say about what goes on here in Ceres. So truly, it would give them the opportunity to voice their opinion, vote yes or no. And because it's a general tax increase, It's not going to necessarily go to the police or the fire or to the 9-11 emergency people. It can be passed by a simple majority. However, my experience sitting here in District 1, working with my council people, our city manager has made it publicly knowledgeable that we're going to have an audit of an update on our present budget in September. Since I've been on the city council, I've asked for that regularly, and it's always been voted down because it needs three people to vote for it. And I caution ourselves when we, again, the POA was here, the fire department spoke about it, the advertising, the little flyer talks about it. being 9-11, but if it's a general tax, I hope the general public isn't misled if and when it gets on the ballot. The mayor has more seniority than I do. I'm The second guy, I've been here almost five years. And as most of you know, because of personal reasons, I've elected to take care of my family and I will not be running for reelection. So it's easy for me to speak freely because I don't have to worry about what anyone thinks about me in the November election. I originally opposed this, even to go on the ballot. I spoke with our staff, and I switched that. I said, well, there's no harm. But as I sit here tonight and reflect on what our city council has done about doing what they say they're going to do, I'm reluctant to... When it comes time to vote, you'll find out... But it's important for you, the citizens, the 12 people, 15 people that are online, and the half a dozen regular people here, it's important that you understand what this is about. It's important for you to make certain that the city council does what it says it's going to do. You know, when I first came on board, we had in the COVID problem and all of that. And I wasn't part of the decisions were maybe, but you know, we paid a large sum of money to people that worked for the city to continue to work for the city. And I wonder how many of those people are still here. I don't know, but it's, again, I can't stress the importance series make certain whichever way this goes, that the city manages your money, make certain that you have this September status on our budget. Because again, there's some resolutions that are going to be proposed and the way they've gone in the past, they won't be passed, but it's just important. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Mr. Casey. Appreciate that.

Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Did you want to make a comment also? I was going to give my comments and then make motions.

Okay. So I'll piggyback a little bit on what the council members have said today. Mr. Casey, he has most definitely been a huge advocate of transparency. And I... the closer that we're realizing that we had a $5.5 million deficit. I took that into consideration, and that's why I supported him in those quarterly budget reviews. And this vote clearly is about giving the citizens and affording them the right to make a decision in the November ballot. And that decision is on the citizens that we were elected to work for you. And it would be It would be wrong for me to not support allowing the citizens to make a decision in November. So with that, I will be supporting this measure. I would encourage the city council to continue to advocate and continue to add additional referrals that would make sure that we are in compliance and that we make sure that this money is being spent appropriately. And I would support my council on that as well. Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to thank everyone that's here this evening. I know a lot of people on social media have been discussing this, and I'm glad that the attendance is so full. I appreciate our POA and our fire department speaking. Just a little quote from our POA president. He said that this decision belongs to the citizens of Ceres, and I fully agree with him that this is their decision to make. All we're doing this evening is giving them an opportunity to vote yes or no on it. You know, this evening I heard, you know, everyday person uh i myself am an everyday person i've got three school-aged children all in elementary i have a grandmother that lives in eastgate that is on a fixed income so i understand the burden that this can create and and i fully do support it i know that ultimately it's the decision of the people that vote in november on whether or not this is going to pass so with that i'm going to make a motion to approve 16.1 we have to do this one two three and four i'll second that roll call please

Councilmember Casey?

No.

Councilmember Vieira? Yes. Councilmember Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez? Aye. Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 4-1.

Then I'll make a motion for 16.2.

Second that.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Casey?

No.

Council Member Vieira? Yes. Council Member Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez?

Aye.

Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 4-1.

Now I'll make a motion for 16.3.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Casey?

No.

Council Member Vieira? Yes. Council Member Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez? Aye. Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 4-1.

And finally, I'll make a motion for 16.4.

I'll second.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Casey?

No.

Council Member Vieira? Yes. Council Member Otero? Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez? Aye. Mayor Lopez?

Yes.

Motion carries 4-1.

Mayor, Mayor, just a quick point of order. The resolutions that were considered and presented are sequential so that they track the order that they're included in the agenda. We didn't have them itemized that way, but it's my understanding that the vice mayor was going in order. So I wanted to make sure that that's clear.

Thank you for the clarification. We'll move on to council referrals and we'll start off with item number 17, which is a reviewing of the series business license ordinance. And this was requested by council member Vieira.

Sorry, it's been almost a year, so I'm a little confused. I guess we had somewhat changed it outside the policy, so I just want to make sure we align our policy with what's actually happening. Because right now they're sending out quarterly taxes, but our city ordinance says they should be annually. And whatever is going to work for the city, but we also get charged by the company for Each time we send out those quarterlies, business licenses, they charge us $20 each time, as opposed to just doing it once a year, which then would affect our budget differently. So I just wanted to make sure our business license and ordinances are aligned with what's actually happening. And all those changes are made publicly and being transparent with the community.

Thank you very much. I'll open this up to the public. Any members of the public would like to make a comment on this item? Seeing none, no hands raised. Back to council. I did notice that vice mayor stepped away for a second. So what I'll do is we'll take a one minute recess so we can come back.

I'll make it quick too. And we are back once again.

Please be seated when you get that opportunity. And just a point of order, we were in the middle of a council member referral and councilwoman, just for the sake of Mr. Vice Mayor, since he did step out, would you mind repeating your item?

I just wanted to have our business license ordinance and policies kind of aligned, because right now what we're doing doesn't necessarily go in compliance with our business ordinances. For example, they're doing quarterly business licenses, and our city ordinance says it's annual, which is March. But the company is charging us $20 for each business that they're sending out these quarterly licenses. So we're literally being billed four times a year instead of the one time annually. And if that's what we're going to do, I think we just need to be transparent with our businesses and let them know what our new policies are and our ordinances and make sure everything aligns.

Thank you very much. And I'll go to the audience once again. Anybody in the audience would like to make a comment? Now is the time.

Freddie Meyer again. business owner if you don't know who i am um just if it matters i would prefer quarterly i don't know what's been changed to i'd try to keep up um i've got a business license expiring at this end of this month june 30th so i would prefer quarterly as a business owner just so you know if that makes a difference thank you thank you very much anybody else anybody on zoom

And I'll bring this item back for either comments or this consensus. Council Member Casey.

Isn't the quarterly report for revenue, the license itself is a yearly license. The quarterly report is for sales tax, the fees that There's a $40 minimum fee, and then you report. And I think, you know, go back to what we just spent a half an hour about. I think that this is another area that the city of Ceres falls very short of. They're not making certain that every licensed city Everyone that has a license in the city is paying the quarterly reports. I think I went, you know, again, a personal note is that the last quarter of 2021, my wife had a stroke. She was the one who maintained that in our office. We had no idea there was an obligation to pay the tax. Nobody contacted us. Nobody... Nothing happened. And then all of a sudden we get the report to repay the first quarter of 2022. That's when we realized we didn't pay the last quarter of 21. So then we asked, we didn't get a bill. And we paid both of those. So I think your question was right. Good, but the license is for a year. It's the quarterly report of revenue that is quarterly.

They changed it to quarterly. That's what Randy was just saying. They had moved it. We just haven't aligned our ordinance to be aligned with what is actually happening in our policies. They started that with the new company. They started doing it quarterly. I just want to make sure that when new businesses come in and they read our ordinances and they read our business policies, it's aligning with what our procedures are. And right now, the two are not aligned. And whatever we decide, preferably whatever the business is preferred. I'm a small business owner myself. And so I totally understand. I just want to make sure the two are aligned.

Thank you. Consensus from left to right? Yes. Yes, here as well. Mr. Casey, is that a yes or no, sir? Consensus on this item? We're just getting consensus. Are you okay to move forward with this item? The referral for Rosalinda? Sure. Thank you very much. Moving on to item number 18. This is for the Serious Community Foundation nonprofit. And this was a referral by Council Member Otero.

Thank you, Mayor. I did speak to the city manager earlier today. I believe that we did get consensus a few months ago on this item. However, I just want to make sure because this is another committee that has gone away. There is money in that fund right now. There's a potential donation which I was told by prior city manager we already had in the fund. So that was a little concerning. Well, I found out we don't have that money in our fund, but there is no oversight right now with that funding. And so we do need to get compliant with the attorney general's office. We need to make sure the taxes and compliance our city was at or the community foundation was at a compliance level. So if we can bring this community foundation back, get the committee together, this may help us with some of the youth activities that we want to have or other things in the city that we're unable to do right now. The community foundation might be able to help. There was funding in there for the water tower that was donated specific for the water tower. Something needs to be done with that for the tower. So it's important we bring this committee back. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'll open this up to the public. Any members of the public would like to make a comment on this item?

I just wanted to confirm that the funds that we did raise for the water tower back before COVID did get put into a foundation account. I just wanted to confirm what Serena said.

Thank you very much. We'll make sure that gets answered.

I have a question. Years ago, when we were working on the Daniel Whitmore House, and when we started the concerts in the park and all the different things that was going on, the city had what was called an umbrella fund, which is probably your foundation fund now. And it was put into all different sections, like money for the water tower had to go into a specific part of that umbrella so that it collected tax and was kept just for that. Is anything like that going on now or is it all just slam dumped into one big bunch and wasted? Or are you going to talk to me?

I was just writing down your comments. We'll make sure that we get those answers to you as soon as possible. Yeah, as soon as we come back after public comment, I was going to ask the questions. This is an informal consensus, and I'm sure if the council is okay with it, we can ask the questions that were brought up by both members. Any additional comments from the audience? Anything on Zoom? I'll bring this item back to the council, and I do realize this is consensus, but if the council is okay with it, I was going to ask the finance director to answer some of the questions that were asked, not only just by the public members, but also by council member Otero. Did you write down those questions? If not, I do remember what they are.

I wrote some of the questions so we can bring it back and provide a report.

And that would be a part of the consensus today, to answer all the questions that were made by the public and Council Member Otero. Is that the goal? Yes, okay. All right, so then bring it back to the, is everybody okay with that? So I'm okay with this as well? So we're okay with it? Okay, so we're good to go. Thank you very much. Item number 19. This is current budget status review by Council Member Casey.

Sure, and of course that didn't happen. It's a mute deal.

It was last year's budget. So being that this was an item that was, you asked for this about a year ago, and now with our city managers going through them, would you like for us to do consensus on this, or what is your...

I think 19 can just be erased. It's about, I was asking that we have an update on 24, 25, 26 budget. That's, you know, it's only- I see what you're saying.

So it's almost a mute point. As long as the council understands that, Mr. Casey said he's going to pass on this item. Next one is item number 20. This is a referral list update, and this was requested by Vice Mayor Martinez.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So what I'm asking for is some form of a way of tracking for the council's sake, a list of referrals. I know that I've got multiple that are out there that I haven't seen come back. I mean, just looking at this evening, we've got quite a few having a way, maybe if it has to be put in rules and procedures, that it can be put at the end of the agenda or somewhere where the referrals list is available for us to review as well. That's what I'm asking for this evening.

Almost like an update, right? Okay, we'll go to the members of the public. Any members of the public would like to make a comment on this item? Seeing none, nobody's hand is raised. Bring this back down to council for consensus to establish a report of the referrals. I don't know exactly where we would input that on the agenda, but at least be consistently making it public for everyone to see the status. Is that correct, Vice Mayor?

Yes, that's exactly correct. A perfect example is Mr. Casey passing on his item because the deadline for his has already passed. Council Member Vieira's is from October 13th of 25. Having a list that's readily available so we can see where these are and track them ourselves, not just, hey, I remember months ago I made a request, whatever happened to that. That seems to be the narrative around here when we do have issues. I would like to see that easily accessible so that we could pull it up, see when we had made that request, and maybe see when it would be coming back again. Okay, I'm good with it.

Everyone's good with it, thank you very much. And now we're moving on to, not Austin, right? 21, right? Also from Councilmember Casey, which is a quarterly budget review.

Sure, and so when we passed the budget, our city manager assured us that we would have that quarterly budget.

I think that we're good with that one, thank you. And then this is Council Member Casey, your forensic audit for the past five years.

Sure. Again, it goes back to what we, you know, we were talking earlier about we're going to need a tax increase to balance stuff. I don't believe... I'm not talking about dishonesty. I'm not talking about money being... I'm just talking about, I don't have the time to go over the few things that I know have been budgeted for dollar amount. And then on the report that we get, it went over the budget report and I've asked the question and they just moved it from here to there. So the forensics audit might not be the right words, but I'm looking for accountability It's one thing to keep track of the millions of dollars we have on our budget. It's another thing to keep track of making certain that those dollars were spent in the right way. And maybe we would have had a surplus those other years that we budgeted with a deficit. Maybe if we had tracked the money and not allowed money to be transferred from one thing to another, maybe we would have ended up with a budget. I don't know. I'm still asking for a more thorough audit than we've been doing.

Thank you, Mr. Casey. Any members of the public would like to make a comment on this item?

I'll hand Guzman for the record. So, yeah, I am in support of this because I was taking a look at the civil grand jury reports and I've noticed that that the city of Ceres has used the same accounting company for like, I don't know, probably like a decade or more. I don't know. Maybe the finance director could clarify. But, you know, using the same accounting firm just increases the risk of misstatements, you know. So I think Stanislaus County did that. kept the same accounting firm for a very long time. I think it was like eight years. And that was something, the report that was released to them like a couple years ago. And one of the recommendations was to use a different accounting firm to do like the annual financial audits to reduce the risk of misstatements. So I think this is a good, I'm in support of the forensic audit. Additionally, I did, I do a lot of research. And so I clicked the hyperlink that had like a list of the city of series, like single audit reports. And during break time, I did speak with the finance director a little bit and she clarified and I was like, okay, that makes sense. Because one of the concerns that I had is that for the year, fiscal year 2020 to 21, there wasn't a single audit report. And she stated that there's a certain threshold of like federal government dollars, excuse me, that the city has to spend in order to flag this like to see to do a single audit report and I did mention to her that like I didn't go I had not looked into like the actual finance department like records for for this but just now in the audience I was taking a look at the documents and for like the comprehensive financial audit reports for 2020 to 21 and There's like the, that was released by the accounting firm. There's like intergovernmental expenditure, oh, sorry, revenues, right? So it doesn't necessarily say federal dollars, but it's from government to government. So I think that would qualify, the threshold is 75, sorry, 750,000. And I think, I took a screenshot, one second. According to the report, it's $1,449,972. So I just have a question about that and would like some clarity. And then additionally, I looked online and then there was, at that time, there was a letter that was written by the finance director at that time, Leticia Diaz, regarding like the single audit report. The date was January 27 of 2023 for the fiscal year of audit of 2020 to 21. That's like two years later, you know? And I think there's like, like I said, like there's just a lot of like, why is, why is the city and the way it is in the financial status, like right now, like, why is that, you know? And so I'm, you know, great. I like to solve problems, so this has been something that I've been spending probably more hours than I should researching this. So I think it's a good idea to do a forensic audit. Additionally, I have a question for the city attorney. When a forensic audit is done, obviously it's like they look into the finance department, but is there any other roles that are looked into? Perhaps like a city treasurer position.

We'll get those answers.

Okay. And if so, and then would that be like a conflict of interest given that one of the council members, you know, has, is in a direct relationship? Just wanted to let you guys know that. Thanks.

Okay. Anybody else? No hands have been raised. Okay. I'll bring this item back. Any comments or questions? This is about consensus. I just have a question to Nubia. So for us to do a forensic audit, there has to be some kind of findings, right? Specifically, I'm just trying to remember and recall the conversation we had last time about this. I believe this was a referral item.

I believe it had been previously. This slightly, maybe Council Member Casey presented slightly different. A true forensic audit looks into, usually there's some concern that there has been either intentional negligent mismanagement, potentially embezzlement. So that is what maybe you'd consider a traditional forensic audit. What I believe Council Member Casey has mentioned tonight is maybe not in its truest sense, but an audit that would take a deeper dive than what the annual audits already look at, right? And so there's been discussion, and I believe when staff presented the contract for the current auditors, we did identify to the council that we had, a necessity and in order to ensure that we could move forward with the audits the city did have to go back and contract with the previous auditor because before the one that we're currently contracted with there was an RFP that had been issued and the relationship did not it wasn't working and we needed to go in a different direction and in order to complete the audits within a timely time frame The city staff's proposal was, let's go back to the previous auditor, knowing that in the future, we probably have to go back out to an RFP. But back to the question, the forensic audit, again, usually is predicated off of some specific concerns. And to answer Mr. Guzman's question, it is primarily just focused on finance and what I will say are higher level administrative financial decisions in terms of looking at how money is spent, where the monies are going, and the different funds that are used. So ultimately, it's a council decision if you would like to have staff explore finding an auditor or consultant who could do a deeper dive than just the standard yearly audits that we're required to by the state.

And I have a question for the finance department. I think during the last conversation, it was determined that each year that we do a forensic audit, the cost was, I believe, roughly over $100,000 each time. Correct me if I'm wrong. There was a, I believe that we went out to see how much it would cost, is what my question is.

I believe our team went out and requested pricing for this service. I wasn't here.

My apologies.

By the city when that took place. But I have heard that it's quite expensive.

It was about $100,000. So that would be $500,000 roughly.

Typically, again, because of the nature of a true forensic audit, you're looking at hiring very specialized financial consultants who know what they're looking for. And again, even... Even in those parameters, they have to be provided some guidance. You are looking for X, Y, and Z because there are concerns as opposed to we would like a more robust evaluation of financial happenings in terms of where money is going or where it's being moved to. Again, ultimately, the council sets the parameters of what you'd be looking for. staff would go out and based off of those parameters, most likely look for a single source. So someone who can meet, a consultant who could meet those parameters or potentially issue an RFP to bring back different options and figure out what services exist in the market.

Before we go to council member Otero I just don't think that it reaches to the level of us doing a forensic audit In addition to our we just passed a budget. We're at a 5.5 million our deficit This would probably put another five hundred thousand dollars on our budget It would be very difficult for us to stomach that so I would probably be a no on this Councilmember Otero Thank You mayor

So I'm glad Mr. Casey brought this back for consensus because when I asked, it was a no. And I think part of it was because there was no suspicion of embezzlement or fraud or anything. But I personally believe that sometimes government entities are afraid to bring something forward and look into it further because we don't know if we would unravel anything. We just had a citizen tonight bring up the CARES Act funding. I brought up the CARES Act funding during the budget, all the budget public hearings, because I also had same concerns with the 2021 audit and our prior finance director saying that we didn't, or two finance directors ago saying we didn't need to do a single year audit on that. And then I brought up the concerns with Measure H not following a public safety expenditure plan. We have had audits in our regular audits that identify material weaknesses. So we clearly need some oversight right now and a deeper dive into past policies to make sure the money has been budgeted correctly, and then making sure going forward that we are in line with what our taxpayer dollars are meant to do. Thank you.

Thank you. Any additional comments? Councilwoman Vera?

Thank you. Just some clarification, because I've been on some of the prior discussions, which may have been before Serena's time, which is why I think she wasn't part of those prior discussions when we had these. Our financials are audited annually. I know Vanessa's writing notes down. But I just want to confirm, because it's a different person each time, correctly, in compliance with the law?

So the firm is the same firm that we've been contracting for the past 15 years. It is required by the best practices of the government accounting standards that the auditor contact rotates. So even though it may be the same firm, we have different audit partners that will be in charge of our audit. And that rotates through the firm.

So it's not the same person that's auditing the books every single time that's taking you guys?

The person in charge is different. They have to rotate it.

Okay. And then I think, again, the conversations we had last time was the cost, which was my biggest concern as well. But I also want to know what we're looking for. I can't just knowingly approve what could be potentially a half a million dollar expense without knowing what we're looking for. And I think that's where I need a little bit more direction before I can make that kind of decision of looking at spending. I think when we had discussions before, it was almost $400,000 a year. And if we're going back five years, that's a significant amount. And I don't know if I'm okay with that unless there's specific things or findings that we're looking for and that we know we... will benefit us. But I believe, Vanessa, again, I don't want to ask too many questions because we're just looking at the referral process, but I believe our bank statements are now being checked every month, which means we know exactly what's in the bank today. I don't know if that's, it's not going to change if we have the bank statements and now all of that's balanced and all that's reconciled and we're getting audited by a different auditor every year. So again, I would need to know what the costs were and what we were looking for. I just couldn't do a random

audit if we already have it we're already paying for the audit already council member casey i wish we could turn that on uh i i you know i as i remember uh in the five years that i've been on the city council uh and we have the third auditor The first auditor had been with the company, I mean, with the city for a long period of time. The second auditor that we hired, there were some miscommunications with the city and the audit firm on their duties. And so we turned around and hired a third auditor. That's what I remember. And then the other part of this is We just heard earlier this Councilperson Vieira talking about clarity on business licenses. And those of you who have attended more than one city council meeting, you know I harp on sales taxes. Those two issues alone, we have no idea about the revenue. We also have no idea about the revenue We are not collecting on a regular basis. And so, yeah, the cost is $500,000 for five years. Potentially, maybe we'll make $5 million. We have no idea. So I still support it. Thank you.

Just a quick point of clarification maybe for the council's benefit. Yes. I've heard several comments. Typically a forensic audit auditor is looking at mistakes and errors with numbers and monies not being used in accordance with law or established policy Councilmember Casey has identified concerns about maybe best practices and policies that the city should look at as a maybe I'm mistaken but as opposed to that there's actual errors in the finances and So from the council's perspective, again, the council can establish the parameters on what you would like this to look like. If staff is to bring it back for action at a future meeting, my recommendation would be to ask the council to give us, Council Member Vieira's point, some specific guidelines on what you would like to include as part of what we're seeking so that it's not just this, we need to find how we can plug some holes or how we can make changes to our policies on our business licenses. What can we be doing better? As opposed to, has anybody been embezzling funds? Again, extreme example. But those are very different things. And I'm not sure that any one auditor, consultant would do all of that. It's possible. But again, that's why establishing that scope would be really critical in order to present the council with something that you can vote on in the future.

Thank you very much. Let's go ahead and go for consensus. Vice Mayor? Councilwoman? It would be a no for me.

Based on the information provided right now, it would be a no.

Mr. Casey? Thank you very much. I turned off the microphone. On to my referral for item number 23, Parks and Recreation Revenue. This request is just based on our budget constraints. And my referral request is the revenue that is generated from Parks and Recreation sponsorships, vendor fees, and instead it goes directly to the general fund that we earmark it to go back into Parks and Recreation. So that way they can decide which events they want to invest more money based on the sponsorship and the fees that were generated from the vendors that are at concerts in the park, vendors that are at Christmas Tree Lane, vendors that are bringing in revenue. And correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's upwards in the amount of $20,000. And that can most definitely help us a lot in the issues that we're having that we have to cut on the events that we cut when we ran this budget. So that's my basic referral. But I would want to make sure that this council is afforded the right for us to be specific on what we want this money for. So that's my request and we'll take this out to the public. Members of the public.

I'd like to say something about the park and recreation. The yellow house, the Whitmore Mansion, not the Daniel Whitmore, but the other one, it was bought with park and recreation money when it was bought. So if it was sold, would not that money go back into parks and recreation and perhaps solve one of your problems? Just a thought.

That's a great question. Thank you. Anyone else? No hands raised. I bring this item back for consensus from left to right. Vice Mayor? Yes. Councilwoman?

Yes.

Me? Yes. Rosinda? Yes. Mr. Casey? No. Mr. Casey? And then this is an opportunity for new referrals. Vice Mayor?

Thank you, Mr Mayor, I have to to bring back a report on our watering days and see about increasing it and to look into safety around smear in a park potential speed bumps or lighting up the crosswalks in the in that area. Thank you anybody else Council would go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. I would like to make a referral to review the 2021 single year audit for the CARES Act funding and the audit in that same year, the full audit. I would also addition to that, within the CARES Act funding, there might have been some RAD funding that was provided either additionally or a part of it through the county funds that were given to us. So I would like an update on like, I want to know if that funding was spent correctly and if an audit should have actually been done.

Thank you. I have a request. So this is more of a question. And if I'm incorrect, then I don't think we need to proceed. This refers to our general fund at 18%. And every single budget that we've ever passed, it does reference that we have to be at an 18% general fund. I could not find a resolution for that makes that official. And I would ask that city manager that that be a part of that referral. If you bring back information that shows the ordinance, then of course I'll be happy with that. And I try to do my best to look for it. I could not find it. If that is the case and there is no formal resolution, I think that this is something that our citizens should be afforded the right to see that we pass a resolution that we are 18%. And that no matter where we are financially, that we have to bring our general fund balance back to 18%. That's my referral. Councilwoman Vera, anything? Mr. Casey, any new referrals? Okay. Moving on to reports. I don't have any reports and we'll go ahead and start off with, you want... Vice Mayor, I guess it's on you, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll leave the Consulate in the Park for Council Member Vier. I don't have any reports this evening. I just wanted to wish everybody in here a late Happy Father's Day to any fathers in here this evening and anyone that may have been here or may still be online watching. I just want to tell you guys all Happy Father's Day.

Okay, Councilwoman Otero.

Thank you. It was my first year participating with Supervisor Condit in the... cleanup of here in series. This is something that Stanislaus County assist us with. And when I was there was a great turnout. And I just appreciate the partnership to get some of the stuff that people have away from their homes not left in the orchards, things like that. So I do appreciate that. And I think the supervisor for doing that again here in series.

Okay. Before we go to Council Member Vieira, I know that we probably won't be convening back until after 4th of July weekend. And I think we'll have two concerts in the park before we come back. I just want to wish everybody a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. The Councilwoman Vieira.

Thank you. I do. And again, I was with Serena this weekend. I was there from seven till one o'clock. I made sure I was there till the last car left. I think it's very important, but he can't do it by himself. So it was nice because in the morning there was a lot of people. I know it kind of trickled down as it got warmer. I Started out the first time we had 34 bins. Last year we had 17 bins. This year we only had 13. That says a lot about our community. So whether we're just using the bulk pickup, whether we're using the series community day, or it's just a matter of, you know, just our lifestyles changing. So it was nice to see that there's less of a need. And like he said, these are a lot of mattresses, washers, dryers. These could have easily been put in someone's front yard or backyard or in an orchard. So it was nice that they had this opportunity to have that out there. We had trees. We had a lot of yard waste. We took almost everything. So it was kind of nice just to be out there and talk to the community. And I appreciate everyone that came forward and talked to me as well as Otero while we were out there. Concerts of the Park, yes, tomorrow we have Los Reyes de Norte. It will also be the first public performance of Ciri's Caswell School's Ballet Fartolio. They'll be doing their intermission show. This is their first public show outside of the school, so I'm very happy to have them as part of our event tomorrow. I know Marlene or Los Reyes have been very public online. She is just an amazing young lady, and I'm really glad to have her here in the city. Now Turlock does have a 4th of July event and parade, but it's actually on Friday, July 4th. The parade will start at 730. They'll have music and fireworks at dusk. Ceres is having increased patrol. I'm going to save that to Chief because that's his department. I don't want to take his thunder. They do have the phone number available, I believe, that weekend. And I believe they have staffing. I don't have all of that information. It was just a little... But I do plan on getting that information completely and getting that shared out to the communities that way you have that in the event once that starts as we get closer to the 4th of July. I know I've had a lot of calls and it came up today at today's meeting as well. And I know Otero also had addressed some concerns about our parks drying out and we had some problems with the water communication. I would just want to confirm, Joshua, that that is on order or it's in works, correct?

Yes, that's correct. We actually did employ the help of our previous SCADA integrator to make sure that we got Strawberry Park. That was the issue that came up that I was notified that it hadn't watered in two weeks. So immediately called somebody. We were able to get an integrator to come and help us and get that back and rolling. But the city did a request for qualifications, trying to get a qualified agency to come in and completely upgrade our SCADA system, because we've been having these communications issues for about a year now. So we've already selected the the winning statement of qualification and the winning vendor. We had a meeting today along with all the divisions that are affected by the SCADA system issues and we met with the contractor and have asked for proposals to come to us as quickly as possible so that they can make it to the August 10th council meeting.

Thank you, I appreciate the Pacific update on that. Yeah, Strawberry Park, I live right across the street, so a lot of residents have approached me, because you've seen it, it's now the color of the walls. Stan RTA, now we talked about transportation. The month of July, Stan RTA is offering free rides the entire month of July, so if you do wanna go out to the aquatics program, you wanna go out to the county fair, Maybe you just want to sit in a nice air-conditioned vehicle and have them drive you around the county. It is free during the month of July for everyone of all ages. But I do want to thank also, regarding the report I saw in our staff report, item number six, it did give us a report of all the businesses and housing developments that are in the process, as well as tenant updates. Because again, these businesses and these buildings are owned by someone else, not by the city. So we're reliant on what the business wants to do with their building. And so I was glad to see the updates as well as approved housing developments that were approved, but may not be moving as forward as fast as we would like. I also saw that there was information regarding our revenue on quarterly taxes. I appreciate that, Julian. I know that came from your department because I do read it, even though it was in very small print.

Yeah.

Very, very small print, but it did show we're declining, where we're getting our revenue, where people are spending their money. I know a lot of them are going now to gas and non-taxable food because we're making a lot more food at home than we are going to fast food. And that's expected, and we see that clearly in the trends that was presented in the report. So if you do want to see that, that is item six in the agenda today. But I want to thank you for that. And congratulations, Chief, on your winning weekend in San Diego. I know besides the weather, it looks like you were also a winner. And I appreciate your hard work. And I know that wasn't something that happens overnight. I don't know too many people who can break a record in bench pressing. So I appreciate that. And I want to give you a special congratulations. And that's my report. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Veer. I was actually thinking about that. Can you please tell the audience how much you bench pressed? And you, this is important. This is, we represent city series, so. It was 165 kilograms. Can you please translate that into for us?

363 pounds, 0.5 pounds. Right.

Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. I think that you're doing a great job, Mr. Casey. Nothing. All right. So we'll go ahead and go to. Oh, absolutely. We'll go first with the city manager. I have no report. Thank you. Okay. And our city attorney tonight. Okay. And then we'll go ahead and do our department heads, but we'll start, start with chief since you, they're going to tag team on an issue. That's fine.

Good evening, mayor and council. Uh, thank you for not stealing my thunder. Um, we will be putting something out to social media here shortly. Everything as we did last year, uh, the nail a map, um, You can call in. We'll have that line available. We're going to try to provide extra staffing and dispatch if we can make that happen. And then we will have fireworks patrol. We'll have officers doing that. It will be on overtime. But we are going to add this year a DUI officer that will be specifically looking for DUIs over the weekend. So Don't drink and drive. We will catch you. Other than that, everything as it was last year, we did work off of our after action report from last year's. We did a few adjustments to the hours and staffing to make sure that we're not spending overtime when nothing is happening. But each year we have to look at that and adjust accordingly.

Yes, Councilmember Otero has a comment.

Chief, in your announcement to the public, will there be something about the fines increasing? So everyone's aware of that as well?

Yeah, we'll put that information in there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, Mayor and Council, as the fire department prepares for the 4th of July celebrations, historically our calls have increased during that time frame, so we're going to be staffing additional resources department-wide on the 3rd and 4th. In addition, we've also partnered with our county or other county fire agencies to develop a cohesive and... solid plan to be able to work with our partner agencies together so for example if there's an increased call volume in in series we'll have additional resources to respond to that call as well as a county response as appropriate The staffing will also include the ability to modify the dispatch based on the available resources at the time of the call. And so that's going to be extremely helpful because oftentimes we receive an increased call volume, but based on the number of resources that will be adjusted appropriately from our SR 911 for fire dispatch. We'd also encourage those that choose to shoot off fireworks that they choose safe and sane fireworks and use them appropriately and be safe with those because we do respond to numerous calls when illegal fireworks are used that cause medical emergencies. So please use safe and sane and make sure to use them appropriately.

Thank you very much. Finance? Julian? Anybody else? OK, sounds good. Well, with that, ladies and gentlemen, we will now adjourn to closed session item. conference with legal counsel regarding public employee discipline dismissal release, a conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation, five potential cases. Lastly, a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation. Name of the case is Ashley, can't pronounce that last name, Runeo, is that correct? City of Ceres and Senesal Superior Court case, also number CV25009856. Anybody from the audience would like to make a comment? seeing none and bring this back and we'll return to report out. Thank you, everybody.

Welcome back. Direction has been provided on all items. Thank you.